Tag Archives: iphone

When the US elections were taking place, there were a number of topics which caused the US public to either get really annoyed, or behind in support, however some of these topics were perceived as smokescreens to get people to invest their time in one matter, whilst the offending party was forging ahead with their real agenda.

Much the same can be said about the state of today’s mobile phone market. The announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is anticipated mid-March 2013 and there is debate about the next iPhone (iPhone 5S). In either case, much conversation has focused in on the hardware specs and screen size.

What’s really important

Whilst having a processor that’s capable of handling function, storage memory sufficient to accommodate photos, videos, apps and music and form that allows the phone to be both of a quality build, handled comfortably and screen size appropriate to needs there are a couple of really important things to consider:

The Operating System

Given that we as consumers appreciate and are more critical of the User Experience (and User Interface), having an operating system that looks and feels intuitive and can be adaptable to your own use of the device is essential. Neither Android nor IOS are yet there, with IOS being somewhat now overdue a UI/UX refresh and Android being plagued by layers of OEM fluff (e.g. MotoBlur, HTC Touch) to confuse the user experience.

Another example of this shortcoming is being able to share to your preferred social network should just be an option, regardless of network. Typically being able to share content from an IOS device to Google+ is more difficult than Facebook – but why is that? I as a user prefer to be able to define my social networks, not be constrained.

[UPDATE: Andy Parry brings the Ubuntu mobile OS to my attention – see this – this is exactly what i’m talking about how the UX should be more like]

The Phone

I’ve mentioned this before; the mobile phone needs to be revamped totally in the experience; not only a good sensor, but also the ability to create more useful metadata such as learning different faces so that it would be possible to then retrieve all the photos of Uncle Dave (person metadata), taken in Chicago (GPS metadata) last Autumn (time/date metadata), near Sears Tower (GPS metadata).

Also the actual holding and storage of a phone needs to be considered; I like the iPhone 4/4S for its compact size, yet it still manages to deliver a solid feel and also very view able screen.

The battery life

It’s all well and good having a powerful phone with an amazing screen, but it’s totally negated if you don’t have the battery life. I feel almost certain that the maximum brightness on phones, whilst very appealing, is hardly used by many due to the battery consumption – effectively rendering it a sales medium. When we start to have efficient batteries and components that consume them, then we have a truly adoptable phone.

Conclusion

Of course, this is skimming the surface, but the point is, don’t be fooled by the processor power etc. Think about the application of the phone to you. Would having a Galaxy S3 vs. S4 make a difference Maybe, if you’re an avid photograper. However if you’re just browsing facebook, youtube, etc. it may not be of discernible difference (depending on the battery life)… case in point I have an iPhone 4 – initially a temporary phone until the iPhone 5 came out, but after due consideration, cost and features were not quite enough to upgrade for upgrades sake, based off my use.

Sony has marketed the hell out of the fact they were going to announce the PS4 details today (20 Feb). In reality what they released was vapourware – mainly because they never showed any unit, other than the controller and a bunch of carefully created videos and in-game sequences – nor did they announce the price. However here’s what seems to be clear and what it means for you.

Hardware

Basically it’s a powerful PC system on a single board; unless regular PCs where graphics cards and such are interchangeable, putting all the silicon on one board means that everything can communicate more optimally and therefore the “supercharged PC” claim. Just like any other console but unlike any other PC, that means no upgrades.

What this means for you: With a PC like specifications it means game ports between the two systems are easier and game developers can more easily push the system (the PS3 was notorious for being hard to program for). This is nothing new to the XBox, so this is more of a catch-up, albeit on steroids (AMRITE Lance Amstrong?)

System Features

There’s not been much shown so far to wow on the dashboard, but there was the ability to integrate social capability (facebook was mentioned). Not only that, but also the ability to stream your games with your friends through UStream, or let them take over your game to help you out of a tough level, or upload a short video of your gaming heroics.

The system apparently will also learn what games you prefer and be a TIVO-like device that downloads games based on your preferences. That could be annoying and pleasing a the same time!

Support for the Move (the magic wand Sony released for the PS3) continues.

What this means for you: Showboating game play is a bit of a gimmick for many gamers; It’s more of a feature than a benefit for many but there’s sure to be a niche use for it. For the casual gamer, it’s probably not something to be bothered with. Sony has decided to stick with physical objects to help with user detection – not sure this is the best option and Microsoft’s Kinect will probably continue to have the edge.

Integration

Stream games to the PSP Vita, Sony’s replacement for the PSP so you can keep on playing if the TV is being used – this is similar to the Wii U.

Additionally, Sony claims that the system will also integrate with tablets and phones. GIven they have their own range of said technology out there, you can expect this to be pushed (crossed promotion).

What this means for you: Integrating other devices has potential, but I think those devices will be a limited list. This could either be a unique selling point, or just another piece of show-off.

Games

The games shown looked great (except Krank, which had great intro graphics but the actual gameplay looked like today’s consoles). The hardware looks to have potential to push things, but the PC won’t be far behind.

There’s also the ability to download games – playing them before they finish downloading. Interesting to see how this pans out, given some games are many gigabytes.

What this means for you: Games are the core reason for consoles being around; having some A-Class titles and game studios onboard means that it will be one of the leading consoles – so long as games continue to be pushed out with quality.

Retro Gaming

Though not yet fully developed, Sony associates talked about being able to stream (not play natively), PS1, PS2 and PS3 games on multiple devices including the PS4.

What this means for you: If you loved an older game, this could be an amazingly handy feature – One game I want to replay is the PS2 “Getaway”

Media Centre

A casual mention of the usual integrations – Netflix, Hulu, etc. plus a Bluray drive, but no significant details.

What this means for you: Unsure – any modern console needs to be a media console too; While XBox can’t play Bluray and it’s UI is clunky for Media play, it’s still capable. PS3 systems are a little more boxed in, but the way to access media is good. To go beyond a games console and to penetrate the home, any modern day console has to be strong in this space.

Price and Release Date

Prices were undisclosed, but rumours put it between US$429 and US$529, which is very competitive. Release date is Christmas 2013.

Should I buy this console?

If you’re the person that has to have the latest iPhone regardless to say you have the latest iPhone then nothing I say here will change your mind.

However for the rest of us I think it’s worth holding out for Microsoft’s offering before deciding. Rumour of new XBox features include a tighter home media console effort, streaming games, inability to play second hand games (stupid move) and built-in and enhanced Kinect. It’s likely to match the PS4 tech specs.

My opinion is that the winner will be that console that has the better user experience, integration with other devices, is accessible for all ages, media savvy, supports the new types of displays (3D and 4K TVs) and of course has quality of games.

In this age where almost everyone has some form of capturing the moment digitally; whether you have a full-on Digital SLR camera, point and click, iPod, iPhone, Android, etc. at some point you’re going to amass lots of pictures and videos.

So what would happen if the device they were on right now failed? Would you lose all your treasured files? What options do you have to backup?

Backing up your PC / Mac

There are so many options here to consider; here’s a brief run-down of the main ones:

Data Transfer Speed

Cost to Implement

Typically Stored

Risk of Failure

Comments

Optical Media (CD/DVD)

Slow

$

On Site

Low

Long term storage option; Size limitations per Disc (e.g. Single Layer DVD is 4.7GB)

Attached Portable Disk

Fast

$

On Site

Moderate

Good for quick archival; risk of disk failure

(in unit) RAID array (non-NAS)

Fast

$$

On Site

Low

Provides protection, but risk to data if the entire unit is affected

Single NAS drive

Medium *

$

On Site

Moderate

Central location for everyone on a home network to backup to; risk of single disk failure

RAID NAS Drive

Medium *

$$

On Site

Low

Central location for everyone on a home network to backup to; risk should the location catch fire, etc.

Free Cloud Offerings

Medium *

–

Cloud

Low

Space is typically limited; very little options in syncing files

Paid Cloud Offerings

Medium *

$$$

Cloud

Low

Best compromise of accessibility, speed, risk and flexibility; Most expensive option long term

Some terminology while we’re here:

NAS = Network Attached Storage; think of it like a portable hard drive that you can put in your home network and anyone on your network can see it

RAID = Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks; most home PCs have one hard drive. if that fails then it’s game over. Some PCs are configured to allow other hard drives to be added which mirror the main hard drive. This doesn’t increase your hard drive space – instead, if the main hard drive fails, you have at least one disk with a backup of your data which you can run from. To read more about RAID, check this wiki article out.

Backing up isn’t just once and done

Backups typically are one of three types. When you are looking to backup your files, you might want to think about using backup software to help automate it, and so you’ll need to consider the following

Full – A complete backup of all files is taken each time

Incremental – A full backup is taken and then only changes are backed up after that point, resulting in multiple incremental sets of backups

Differential – A full backup is taken and then only changes are taken; each time a backup occurs it overwrites the last differential backup and takes all files updated since the full backup. This results in only two backup files being present at any one time.

Many backup services offer a variety of these. To me, differential seems the one I’d pick because in the event of a disk failure, I’m only having to work with two files, otherwise I’m maintaining many files with incremental (unless I’m on the ball with when I do a full backup).

The Need for Speed

When you’re backing up gigabytes of files you want it to happen fairly quickly – if you’re using something like a DVD or slow internet connection it’s going to take a while. That could be a PITA.

What’s the best option for me?

Generally using Cloud for backups is the best compromise – if all you’re doing is backing up and don’t want others to have access to the files. Otherwise, a NAS RAID drive might suit better. Both have pros and cons – think about speed, access, cost and finally – if you’re house were to catch on fire, would you save your RAID NAS drive?

What about my cell / mobile phone backups?

iPhones have iCloud and iTunes to help with that. You can sync your files to either / both and take care of it.

Android has a slightly different set of options; You can sync your contacts and pictures with Google directly (including Google Picassa) or you can buy some of the apps out there for it. TechHive has a great article on this very topic.

Conclusion

We all need to consider our backup strategy – and have one in place. It also goes hand in hand with being able to organise your files so that if you need to refer back to them, you can. How many times have you seen the folder “DCIM” with image names such as “IMAGE0012.JPG”? Technology still has to solve the ability to catalogue digital images effectively!

So, what do you use for backups?

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The iPhone 5 is launched 21 September 2012. It is anticipated to out-sell the iPhone 4S, yet reading the netisphere there’s some negative press out there about the launch – somehow, despite the leaking of multiple parts ahead of time, it wasn’t revolutionary enough.

Whilst it didn’t blow away the competition, it did provide enough reason for some to upgrade their phones – faster processor, widescreen, better construction and updated camera to name the main ones (IOS6 is a given and available for other models). Consequently the general reaction from Apple Fanbois was to either cry in their latte, blindly accept their given lot, or to critique the product for not being evolutionary enough (e.g. missing NFC). Droidbois meanwhile were laughing in their Mountain Dew because the hardware specs are a little underwhelming compared to many of their handsets.

To me this was all somewhat irrelevant. In my opinion, we’ve reached a plateau in smart phone hardware. It’s not a roadblock, just a natural pause in the way of tech things that let’s the market stabilise and then move on.

The Differentiator

The difference here is the software implementation – the iPhone 5 hardware is comparative enough with its’ Android competitors (namely Samsung Galaxy SIII, HTC OneX and Motorola Razr) to not really care. Without getting into a debate about the Apple custom processor vs OOTB Snapdragon et al., the software is going to be the thing that makes the difference for many.

When you look at the comparison of IOS vs Droid apps, there’s very little difference – there are some outliers (for example, iPhone has Hipstamatic and Siri whilst Droid has Swype and a swathe of apps that let you customize your android experience – to name but a few). It’s these differences that will drive consumers to the platform – and they’re looking for integration both at an app level, but also to their life. I’ve seen some beautiful apps but their function is limited (Solar for example), and to be honest, I’d rather have something a little more intuitive that could give me more insight into the weather and what it means for me.

So whilst the debate will rage on about IOS vs Android, i’m looking to the app developers to really push each platform and bring true value. In turn they will also push the limits of the hardware which will drive the handset manufacturers to go to the next evolution (or revolution – Google Glasses anyone?). That in turn will put pressure on the batteries, cameras, building materials,etc to go to that next level.

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A potentially great phone let down by under performing battery performance and lacklustre camera.

When HTC announced the OneX, it was with much anticipation. A sumptious screen, contemporary profile, enhanced audio and a dedicated image processor for taking great pictures. It says here.

A large but friendly giant

HTC have delivered on some fronts. From an ergonomic perspective, the OneX works pretty well. It fits comfortably in the hand and can be slipped into a gentleman’s trousers (pants for the colonials) without being annoying.

It’s rather generous dimensions work well from a viewing perspective – 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.7 inches (~312 ppi pixel density). Comparing the display against an iPhone Retina showed little difference in definition. However when it comes to screen brightness, it does not quite measure up to the iPhone – and when diagnosing battery issues (later), the screen was the biggest cause of battery drain.

Camera – Disappointing

My first foray into using the camera was an outside location (evening light); the result of the camera left high red tones, particularly on people. We had a DroidX also taking photos, which turned out fine. After adjusting the white balance from “Auto” it helped resolve the problems somewhat, but they still weren’t as expected. If you want to see how the issue appeared, click here. Clearly picked up the red dress and overcompensated.

Later I was using the camera again (inside the house) and felt the camera was again overcompensating and really pushing the yellows. So to settle it once and for all, I took the same photograph with an iPhone 4 and the OneX. The results are here – I think the iPhone naturally tweaks the shot to up the saturation and brightness.. but it worked for me. I also took some other comparison shots – each time the iPhone got the better across the board.

On the plus side the ability to take shots rapidly was amazing – it outperforms many other phones in this perspective – and the ability to take a shot whilst simultaneously recording a video demonstrates the power of the dedicated image processor.

Speaking of video, it actually performed better in the white balance department. Weird.

The battery is so draining

Battery life is a make-or-break-it thing for me. A phone must be able to last a day (or thereabouts) for it to be acceptable. Enabling 4G and GPS on the OneX would eat battery power faster than a large gentleman in a pie shop. There’s something fundamentally wrong with the way HTC have handled 4G – even with full bars on AT&T it would be a massive drain (along with the screen).

As mentioned, when looking at where power was being used, Android reported the screen being the prime consumer – this with brightness turned down, a black wallpaper and some battery management software (and no Live Wallpaper, though it is cool). If this is what it takes to keep battery use down, what’s the point of having such a big screen.

It’s not all bad

Android ICS with HTCs Touch works really well; the widgets work, the live wallpaper idea works well, screen scrolling is smooth, everything works without delay, GPS discovery is very quick and when 4G is enabled, it’s fast enough (but not blindingly fast).

I have a feeling that perhaps I may have had a faulty unit due to the poor battery performance – but also that HTC Touch isn’t quite mature enough and there’s more work to be done. I would be very interested to see how Android Jelly Bean performs on the unit – I have a feeling that natively, it would really exploit the power of the OneX.

In Summary

I could *maybe* forgive the camera, but the battery life is the thing that turned me off. I went to an old iPhone 4 and the difference was night and day. Yes, the iPhone doesn’t have such a powerful processor, 4G, nor the same screen dimension which needs to be powered – but then perhaps that’s why Apple took such a move; you don’t always need the biggest, fastest behemoth. Just the best for the job.

I made a prediction, like many others a while back that the iPhone 5 would be announced in early October. Others also speculated that Apple would release a cut-down version of the iPhone 4 to grab a bigger market share, called the iPhone 4S. Personally I didn’t agree with that thought as I don’t see Apple as a mid to low tier mobile device provider – not to mention having “bargain” products can have a negative impact on the brand as a whole and Apple has done a ton of work on their brand image.

So October rolls around and Apple announce the iPhone 4S; an updated version of the iPhone 4, but not iPhone 5. The reaction from many corners was disappointment that Apple had failed to deliver after all the speculation of the next big thing. So what happened to the iPhone 5 launch?

“The forces are conspiring against us”

The main factors for no dual launch appear to be numerous and unfortunately and coincidentally timed:

Legal / Supplier Issues

Samsung used to supply many components for Apple; unfortunately Apple were feeling the pressure of very competitive products that Samsung launched (Galaxy S line) and took legal action to prevent Samsung from selling the product (see LA Times article). Naturally this caused a rift between the two companies and as such, Samsung no longer provides parts to Apple. Unfortunately for Apple, there are few other component suppliers who can offer both quality and quantity, so this will have caused disruption in their supply/demand chain.

Natural Disaster

The terrible earthquakes seen in Japan earlier this year also hit production of components – and some of those components were to be used in the new iPhone 5. Component manufacturers needed time to recover from the disaster and this has impacted Apple’s plans for the iPhone 5 production – source: Taiwan News.

Silicon Issues

Producing an LTE phone (which I believe is the intention for the iPhone 5) requires some additional silicon. With current silicon boards, this would mean making the phone bigger/thicker. Thinner silicon technology (32nm) is harder to produce and can yield high quality issues in production). Moving chip production to B-grade component companies has had impact there. It’s also suggested that the iPhone5 would receive a new processor (A6), also to find its’ way into the iPad 3. Again With the lack of a quality producer able to make the silicon in quantities and the expertise that Samsung brought, they’re having to rely on what they can deliver, over what they wanted to deliver – hence the 4S. See the conversation on this topic at AnandTech.

Why did Apple Introduce the 4S then?

The saving grace and probably the most compelling (certainly for me) is that Apple decided to upgrade the camera. To date, many phone cameras lack the quality that even point-and-shoot cameras posses and so any manufacturer to produce a phone that can take great pictures is sure to create a differentiator in the marketplace.

What makes a great camera – it’s not just megapixels

Megapixels do count (no pun intended); The more pixels on screen, the higher the resolution (potentially more detail) – however there are many parts inbetween which can make or break a great picture:

Sensor – the sensor detects the image and turns it into a digital representation; If the sensor is not great at its’ job you might see purple fringing, poor representation of colour, etc.

Lens – The lens projects onto the sensor – a poor lens gives a poor image, so no matter how good the sensor, the image won’t be great

Processing – Time to take the picture and time to process the picture are important. Having a great lens and sensor but each photo takes 5 seconds to take makes taking photographs frustrating

Fortunately for Apple, they hit all three (if you want a breakdown of each, check out the TechCrunch article which goes into great detail). So while everyone is going on about the speech recognition (Siri) introduced in the 4S (which was already available for Androids), I believe that the camera is the deal-clincher.

When you consider apps like InstaGram and that Facebook is going to offer a similar service, plus the wealth of photo and video sharing options (YouTube, Vimeo et al), the camera is going to be a major component in future phone marketing and consumer purchasing behaviour. Not only that but what isn’t played on much (and is lacking in many cameras – including very expensive ones), is that the phone has a built in GPS receiver, so it can tag geographic information alongside everything else… all we need now is face recognition.

Did the light go on?

Think about it – a camera that knows the date, place, time, and people that were in the photo and all your badly organised photo folders go away and instead you can just search on the metadata you want (e.g. give me all photographs taken between May and April 2011 in Illinois with John and Sarah in them, give me all pictures of John and Sarah, etc. etc.) All your annoyances of photo organisation just went away!

(hopefully someone reads this and writes the app – and if you do, a little thank you note would be appreciated. US Currency preferred.)

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The news has been awash this week with Apple’s announcement that the iPad2 was being released mid-March 2011. As usual the industry press and “fanboi’s” were all over this like bees to a honey pot – and ironically that’s exactly what I believe this product is, in anticipation of the next iPad Apple is surely developing.

There is quite a bit of information here that leads to the conclusion, so for those of you with a shorter attention span, might want to fast-forward to the end of this post.

Steve Jobs’ Mind Control

If you listen to Steve Jobs’ presentations (see iPad2 presentation) you’ll see he’s a clever salesman. Using his stature and choice of words is almost akin to the techniques that Hitler used to incite many German’s. Not that I’m saying that Mr Jobs should be viewed like he is a modern day Hitler; just his technique has parallels, with clearly different intent.

Let’s take a look at some examples:

“When we said the iPad was magical, people laughed at us. But it’s turned out to be magical.” – setting the scene; “us against the world”, then reaffirm position

“Fantastic games, a lot of apps for business and vertical markets. The things people are doing here are amazing.” – more positive enforcement, creating a sense of excitement

“Having built in all this stuff, one of the striking things about the iPad 2 is that’s dramatically thinner. 33% thinner.” – Use of the word “striking” suggests he’s “one of us” looking at the product for the first time

“The new iPad 2 is thinner than your iPhone 4.” – you DID buy an iPhone, right? You are part of our “inner circle”, right?

“When you get your hands on one, it feels totally different.” – Once someone picks up a product, their purchasing potential goes way up. This is basically programming people to go to a store… so you will buy one.

“This has been tried and tested… iPads get 10 hours of battery life.” – doesn’t every product get tried and tested? Yes, but this is a phrase associated with things that we know are true; used to suggest that significant effort has been made. Significant effort = perception of quality.

The reason I mention the delivery of Jobs’ keynote is because of its’ intent. Combine the setting with the person and their persona, the words they use, the means of delivery including attire (you don’t see him wearing a suit on purpose) and the audience participation causes GroupThink excitement. It becomes infectious and makes you want to believe in the Church of Steve.

This is all done to help sales in anticipation of the next generation iPad (yes, you read that right).

Apple’s Product Pattern

Look at the iPhone and the excitement around that; consider each version (iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4) and how each version incrementally delivers new or updated features. Do you remember the anger and frustration that was made by iPhone 3G users when 3GS was launched? No? See how selective our memories become when we’re indoctrinated into believing things through social and media subliminal pressure.

If you look at the iPhone Wiki, you’ll see a new iPhone was launched every year since 2007. The iPad is following the same trait (see iPad Wiki). However, since the original iPhone launch in 2007, consumers are becoming more and more savvy about what to expect for the next incremental product update.

So based off the product cycle information, it’s suggestive that there’s another iPad product being developed already.

Details on the new iPad – iPad2 HD

Well of course there aren’t any – yet. But read on…

Releasing the iPad2 can be viewed as releasing the iPhone 3G; it’s definitely a step up from the original product but it falls short in a number of areas:

Screen resolution is still 1024 x 768 – it’s no Retina display and not the best HD movie experience. I suspect they made this choice as existing iPhone apps would look even worse on an iPad Retina display.

The rear-facing camera is not going to be great for still photography – 1280 x 720 = 0.92 megapixels. For this to be anywhere near usable there needs to be at least 3MP.

Still has 256mb Memory, just like the original iPad

Apple’s product cycle tends to fall in September, which is when we will see the launch of the iPhone 5 (see “leaked iPhone 5 parts surface“) and then early 2012 we’ll see iPad 2 HD launch. [postscript: Rumour now is that the iPhone 5 will be announced in June 2011, leaving the door open for other products in September]. The A5 processor is really necessary for the Retina display to handle moving things around the screen and this delay gives Apple enough time to work out what to do with the backward compatibility for existing iPhone apps.

Should you buy an iPad2?

Do you have an iPad? Then no.

Otherwise, consider the iPad and the Motorola Xoom and then see what works best for you. Bear in mind that the Moto Xoom is in early product cycle so may fall down against the iPad2 initially in *some* areas, but Google is committed to making the platform successful so you can almost guarantee future updates will also make it a compelling argument. Right now the Xoom not priced at the right level (although some large volume discount retailers are selling it at discount).

Disclaimer

I take a neutral approach to the Mac vs PC; Android vs iOS debates that rage forums etc. Our household has Macs, PCs, iPads, Android devices and iPods. All of these devices we enjoy using day in and day out. I do dislike iTunes immensely though!

Have you ever thought about Jailbreaking your iPhone? Or homebrewing your PSP or Wii? Did you hack your Android phone to get the latest updates? Whether you have or not, there are many out there that have. But why do they do that? And what is this jailbreak/homebrew you speak of? This article aims to expose what hacking products is all about and possibly why manufacturers are missing the point.

Manufacturers create limitations

When creating products, manufacturers build in mechanisms which prevent or limit capability of their products. This is done for a number of reasons:

Safety: Prevent the system from being misused where it will perform outside safety parameters (e.g. “overclocking“)

Feature Control – They want to limit the functionality of the product – possibly so they can enable it later or introduce the feature in some other way/update (i.e. controlling how features are deployed)

Security – They want to limit access to the system to prevent tampering, bypassing of existing functions or plugging in extra ones.

Prevent Piracy – They want to prevent the ability to play pirated games, etc. on the device (typical of games consoles)

Hackers are evil, aren’t they?

Or so the Media would have you believe. Yes there are some rotten apples for sure, but there are also those out there that hack for good intention too. Generally speaking the purpose of hacking is to bypass or overcome one or more of the reasons mentioned above (Safety, Feature Control, Security, Piracy) but there are other reasons too; some want the notoriety that they were the first to break into a system. Others hack because they feel the limitations put on the product are restrictive.

You may be a hacker and not realise it…

Consider the humble MP3 player. A number of factors lead to its’ success such as portability, capacity, size, durability and also the fact it let you hack your CD collection by ripping any of the tracks into the MP3 format and then uploading them to any one of your MP3 devices.

Cars also have had many changes which have meant they too are hackable. Every car I’ve owned since 2001 has had the ability for its’ Electronic Control Unit (ECU) to be modified to either get more performance, economy – or both. On top of that, the burgeoning after-market business will allow you to replace many parts of your standard car, either to make it personalized to you, or to enhance it in some way shape or form.

The war on the home electronics front

Games consoles and phones have long been a target for hacking. When the original Microsoft Xbox came out it was soon hacked and people started to change it in ways it had never been designed for. A popular hack was to convert it to a media center by adding a larger hard drive, installing Xbox Media Center and an optical out – creating a true home theatre PC experience on the cheap (though not HD). The Xbox was (for its’ generation), a market leader and the ability to hack it made it more desirable over Sony’s PS2 product.

With the introduction of the Xbox 360, Microsoft decided to increase the security so that the system couldn’t be hacked so easily. As with most things, an exploit was found which allowed hackers to bypass the (local) security. There are also various exploits for the Sony PS3 which allow the user to take control over what happens to their console.

Going back to our Apple iPhone as well as the iPad and Android phones, people realize that these are very powerful platforms which have been (in their eyes) restricted by the manufacturer in some way and so will actively seek to hack and bypass security as they see it as their right that if they own the product, they should have it their way for their needs. As such exploits and hacks were found which allowed users to do what they wanted with the devices.

So why not just build “hackability” into Products?

Would manufacturers allowed “hacking” affects desirability? Going back to the Xbox 360, Microsoft created a marketplace for people to re-skin their console with plastic shells that could be purchased. Whilst a good marketing idea, the actual desirability for this kind of hacking is minimal. The same goes for cars – the manufacturer often offers additional accessories with the vehicle which gives some degree of personalization (or a perception of it), yet in reality many folks will buy after-market parts instead.

So there are desirable hacks as well as non-desirable ones?

Absolutely! Some hacks make systems better for the end user – whether it be speed, appearance, extensibility. Simply put, manufacturing a product which has potential exploits to hacks or customize it in some way, shape or form, but that way isn’t documented, isn’t officially supported, perhaps is communicated as “we do not approve these changes” – but is coincidentally allowing the exploit could increase its’ chance to be desired.

Or to put it another way; if you let your product be hackable but you as a manufacturer do not condone it, you may increase your chance of market share because it’s viewed as underground and therefore increases its’ “coolness” factor – and thus your product gets notoriety.

So it’s easy right? Just make everything “hackable”…

What would happen if Apple offered a hacking tool for the iPhone that was charged a premium for? Someone would write a hack that did the same thing for free and they’d be the hero. Perhaps off the back of that Apple would offer them a job to help prevent other / hacks, etc. so everyone wins, but ultimately the manufacturer hack tool could be viewed as too corporate and so people would try to work they way around it.

So what does that mean for the consumer?

There are pro’s and cons for the consumer with hacking a product; it can remove manufacturer liability, cause the life of the product to be shortened – or even break the product. On the other hand it can help make the product fulfill its’ potential.

When Microsoft release the Kinect product, folks immediately set to work to understand how they could use the product outside of its’ intended use. At first Microsoft made strong statements about how this was against the terms of use, but rapidly retracted the strength of that statement. People were starting to see how they could use the product for new ways such as 3D real time modeling and that this was pushing the boundaries of use – something more powerful that Microsoft alone may have considered- certainly in the short term.

In conclusion

If you’re thinking of going out and hacking every product you own that is hackable, don’t. Stop and think about what would happen if you did apply a hack – would you lose your warranty? Could you fix it if it broke? That being said there is good cause for some hacks, so definately research based off your needs and the risks.

For any manufacturers out there reading this… could this be your new marketing ploy?!

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Apple has released two significant products that have generated a great deal of press; the iPad and the iPhone 4 but has been pretty quiet about their iPod product line of late. Why is this?

The iPod helped Apple make it big

No-one can argue that Apple’s iPod product line was a game changer not just for the MP3 player market but also for Apple’s own image. Of course they were already huge in the creative industry (with the help of Adobe with applications such as Photoshop) and had a “edgy” branding in the tech market, but to make it into everyday people’s homes was the huge leap for them – and the iPod made that possible.

iPod Touch 4th Generation released September 2010!

Well, that’s my guess. Apple has traditionally released a new generation around September and given that the iPhone product can lend its’ set of technology back to the Touch, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that this September we’ll also see a new iPod Touch. For Apple to announce that during the furore of iPad and iPhone madness would dilute the message for all the platforms, so I would imagine we’ll see them announce the Touch towards August. In the meantime, existing iPod Touch units can upgrade to iOS4 – if you’ve got a Touch and feel like an upgrade is in order, Apple have an app (well, page) for that.

New Features for the iPod Touch 4G

Here’s the list of potential upgrades I see for the next gen Touch:

Camera – For both stills and also video. Because of the iPhone 4G’s video conference capability, it would be great if they could also include this feature for the Touch – but that also blurs the line of what this product is designed to do. I think at best we’ll just see a static camera capability.

High Resolution Screen – Using the same technology as the iPhone 4G, the screen resolution will be upped.

Faster Processor – Now Apple manufactures their own processors, as seen in the iPad/iPhone4 products, this could be likely.

Other posts around the webby world suggest they want 3G – I don’ t know this will happen because this starts to make the product a mobile phone like device. Though thinking about it, that could be the staging of what the Apple product line is headed towards – the vision many have shared that we have a mobile all-in-one device that includes phone, camera, video, media player, games machine…What a bugger it would be if you lose it though… for that to work you would start to need retina scans or finger printing authentication..

Since writing this article Apple did release the iPod Touch which did include the features I suggested; You can also install Skype which gets around the whole 3G/Phone question. The camera isn’t quite up to the iPhone 4 specification but there is a reason for that. In any case the product seems to once again set the standard for mp3 players. I’m sure Microsoft’s Zune will be playing catchup soon…

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Rumour is that Apple is not only going to offer retail of the iPhone through CostCo but also that it will drop the price to $149 from the current $199. This really gives it to the T-Mobile G1 offering. Could this be the start of phone wars?

The next best move would be for other providers to offer the iPhone – rumour also is that Verizon is talking to Apple. Given Verizon is one of the more quality carriers (T-Mobile being the other), this could be an interesting time for those of us yet to have made the jump….